TULSA Okla.
An Iowa senator is investigating possible financial wrongdoing by six televangelists, including three who sit on the board of regents for Oral Roberts University.
Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is requesting financial records from televangelists Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Paula White and Eddie Long.
Hinn, Copeland and Dollar are members of the ORU board of regents. The 5,700-student evangelical school is more than $50 million in debt and fighting claims that its president, Richard Roberts, misspent university funds to support a lavish lifestyle. Roberts has denied the allegations, set out in a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by three former university professors.
An ORU spokesman confirmed the three were on the board, but declined further comment Tuesday.
The senator is requesting information regarding expenses, domestic and overseas bank accounts, executive compensation and amenities given to executives, among other documents, by Dec. 6, according to his office.
“I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries,” Grassley said in a statement Tuesday. “The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces.”
